


Lovely Lady

by Nightfoot



Category: Tales of Vesperia
Genre: F/M, Humor, Prostitution, hints of romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-01
Updated: 2014-10-01
Packaged: 2018-02-19 11:40:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,398
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2387015
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Nightfoot/pseuds/Nightfoot
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When Yuri discovers that Flynn has never "done it", he decides there is only one logical thing to do: hire Flynn a prostitute. Flynn is less than amused by this turn of events.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Lovely Lady

Flynn was, as always, caught up in his work. It was hard to believe that he'd already been commandant for an entire year. The months since the Adephagos had whizzed by in a flurry of paperwork and council meetings. He was almost done with this assignment, though. He'd spent all day working out which captains to send to which regions, but he'd finally worked it out and just needed to finish writing it all down. There was an entire stack of paperwork to be done once he finished this, of course, but he still enjoyed being able to cross something off his ever-expanding to-to list.

The door to the office banged open, causing him to jump slightly at the sudden noise. He snapped his head up in annoyance, and was not at all surprised to see who the rude intruder was. "Yuri! What did I tell you about knocking?"

"That I should never do it?" He closed the door and strolled across the room.

Flynn sighed in frustration. "Would you  _please_  knock next time, Yuri?"

"What, afraid I'm going to walk in on you doing something embarrassing?" He kicked back the chair in front of Flynn's desk and sat down.

Flynn looked down at the bottom of the page and scowled. "No, I'm afraid you're going to startle me and ruin my signature."

"Let me see that." Yuri grabbed the paper before Flynn could stop him, and then laughed. "Nice. Our noble commandant, Flynn Sciiiiii. I like how you've stretched that 'I' across the whole line."

Flynn snatched the paper back, but regretted doing so immediately because now it was wrinkled. He carefully tried to unfold it on his desk. "You startled me and my hand jumped. I hope you're happy. What are you doing here, anyway?"

"What, I can't stop by to visit my best friend?" Yuri crossed his arms and leaned back in the chair. "I happened to be in town and thought I'd stop by. I haven't seen you in ages."

Flynn gave up trying to straighten the paper and looked up with an apologetic smile. "I know, I'm sorry. I've been so busy with work I haven't had time to get away."

"It's fine, I understand. You've got a big job cleaning up Alexei's mess. But, the invitation to visit Dahngrest is open, so stop by any chance you have. I'm sure Repede would enjoy seeing you, too."

"Thank you, Yuri. I'll take you up on that offer one of these days." He looked back at the paper and carefully tried to salvage his signature. Maybe he could pass off the mistake on the 'I' as being a particularly flamboyant flourish. "How has work been treating you?"

"Can't complain. Turns out saving the world is great for publicity. I think some people are hiring us just to say Brave Vesperia has worked for them."

"I'm glad to hear things are going well," Flynn said. He put the finished paper to the side, and glanced to the waiting pile of paperwork. Finishing his work and maybe getting everything done today so that tomorrow didn't begin playing catch up would be a relief, but he also hadn't seen Yuri in ages and it would be nice to catch up. "How long are you in town?"

"Uh… probably just tonight," he said. "I was going to crash at my old place in the Lower Quarter and then head back to Dahngrest tomorrow morning to see if Karol has any new jobs for me."

"Hm… can you stick around a bit longer? If I get everything done today, I should be able to get away for an hour or so at lunch and we can have a proper visit."

Yuri nodded. "I think I can swing that. What are you working on, anyway?" He grabbed the sheet of paper at the top of Flynn's pile and wrinkled his nose. "What're all these numbers?"

"Budget reports," Flynn said, taking the paper from Yuri with great care so as not to wrinkle this one, too. "A lot of this is basic math, working out the average expenditures per unit, cost of equipment per head, that sort of thing. You're welcome to help me."

"No thanks," Yuri said quickly. "I stopped being good at math once the alphabet got involved."

"Heh, alright."

Yuri leaned forward on the desk, resting his chin on his hand. "Hey, Flynn, quick question: do you think I should ask Judy out?"

"Uh…" Flynn stared at him in surprise, not really sure where to go with this question. "Why are you asking me?"

"I don't know, probably because you're my best friend."

Flynn frowned. "I'm really not a good source for valuable romantic advice. Don't you have other friends you can ask?"

"Well, let's see," Yuri said. He sat up and held out his hands, counting out each friend on a finger. "Out of my closest friends, one is an airheaded princess, one is a socially awkward mage, one is an old pervert who shouldn't be giving romantic advice to  _anybody_ , one is a thirteen-year-old boy, and one is a dog." He lowered his hand and raised his head. "I don't see how you're any worse than them."

Flynn put his pen down and said, "I don't know, Yuri. It's not like you to worry about this sort of thing."

"I know, that's why I'm asking your advice. I really like Judy – she's nice, and a good fighter, and we work really well together. But I'd feel bad if trying to start a relationship with her messed up the guild dynamics."

"Then… don't ask her out?"

"But I think she might like me too, and leaving unspoken tension between us could also be detrimental to the guild."

"So… do ask her out?"

Yuri scowled. "You're not helping at all."

Flynn sighed. "I don't know what you expect from me, Yuri. You might have better luck asking Repede."

Yuri rolled his eyes. "You're right. I don't know why I thought you'd be any use in this sort of thing. The closest you've ever had to a romantic relationship was with that girl back when we were kids."

Flynn wrinkled his brow in confusion. "What girl?" He couldn't recall ever being in a relationship, and he was pretty sure that was a fact that would stick out in his mind.

"You know, what's-her-name. Uh… Sandy? Yeah, I think it was Sandy."

Flynn's confusion turned to annoyance as he realized what Yuri was talking about. "Sandy and I were  _not_  in a relationship."

Yuri laughed. "Don't tell Sandy that! She was always running around after you." Yuri clasped his hands over his chest and raised his voice to a mocking falsetto. "Oh, I'm going to marry Flynn one day! Flynn is my true love!"

"Shut up, Yuri," Flynn said, determined not to let Yuri's taunting bother him. That would just encourage him to continue.

Dropping back to his normal voice, Yuri said, "What was she, thirteen?"

"At least three years younger than me, yes," Flynn said stiffly.

"And then you had to go and break her little heart. Cruel."

"Yuri, she was thirteen. She wasn't a romantic relationship, she was a stalker."

"Alright, fine," Yuri said. "But you still must be more experienced than my other friends. You know Estelle hasn't had any sort of relationship… other than whatever the hell's going on with her and Rita. I don't even think  _she_  knows exactly where that's going… and Karol has his little crush on that girl, but if I start taking romantic advice from a pre-teen I might have to stab myself. In twenty-two years, you must have had  _someone_."

"No, I haven't, actually," Flynn said. This conversation was getting out of hand and leading to places that Flynn wasn't entirely comfortable going. "We can talk about this more at lunch to-"

"Seriously?" Yuri said. "I figured you must have had at least some sort of interaction with the female sex in the years after I left the knights."

Flynn frowned, and spoke very firmly in an attempt to put an end to this conversation. "No, Yuri, I haven't. I've been dedicated to my work and rarely involve myself with those outside the knighthood, and engaging in sexual relationships with your coworkers is inappropriate so I never pursued any of my female comrades."

Yuri leaned forward conspiratorially. "Hold on, Flynn. You're telling me that in your entire life, you've never…  _done it_?"

Flynn felt a ting of warmth rise in his cheeks. "I don't see how this is any of your business, Yuri."

Yuri laughed as he leaned back in his chair. "I shouldn't be surprised. When you combine your social awkwardness with you being a workaholic, it's amazing you have any acquaintances at all."

Flynn glared at Yuri, waiting for him to stop laughing. "Like you're some master of seduction."

Yuri stopped laughing long enough to say, "Better than you."

"Could you please leave me to get my work done, now?" Flynn asked. Yuri had officially overstayed his welcome at this point.

"Kicking me out? I'm hurt."

"I have a lot of work to do."

"Fine," Yuri said, getting to his feet. He'd stopped laughing, but he still had that damn grin on his face.

"I'll meet you at your place around noon tomorrow and we can go out for lunch, alright?"

"Yeah, ok. See you around."

Yuri finally left, leaving Flynn to finish his work in peace. He put his pen down and started writing, a bit more harshly than he'd intended and nearly cutting through the page. He frowned in annoyance and started again. He didn't see why his love life was any of Yuri's concern. He was far too busy improving the empire to worry about personal relationships. He just hoped that Yuri would forget about this conversation by the time they met for lunch tomorrow.

* * *

Flynn headed to his bedroom after a long day with relief. The council meeting he'd been stuck at had run much later than he'd anticipated, so he was glad he'd kicked Yuri out earlier today to give him a chance to get all his work done. He yawned and opened the door to his bedroom, and then froze in the doorway when he realized that someone was already there.

"Hey there, tiger," the woman said, sitting up and smiling at him. "You ready for a good time?"

He instinctively reached for his sword, but he had left it in his office.

"Relax," she said, getting up off the bed. "I'm not going to hurt you… unless you're into that sort of thing." She winked.

"I think there's been some kind of mistake," Flynn said, trying to ignore how hot his face was getting. The woman stood right in front of him now, a couple inches taller thanks to her heels. She wore a tight red dress with matching lipstick, and her dark brown hair hung around her shoulders in shiny waves. Yes, she was pretty, but Flynn had not been expecting a sexy woman waiting for him in his bedroom, and he did not particularly want one. "Perhaps you were directed to the wrong-"

"Sh," she said, resting one finger against his lips. "There's no mistake. You are Commandant Flynn Scifo, yes?"

Flynn pushed her hand away. "Yes, I am, but that doesn't explain what you're doing here."

"Your friend let me in and told me to wait for you," she said. "Don't worry, I've already been paid in full. I'm yours for the  _whole_  night," she said with a smile.

"My friend…?" Realization dawned. "Yuri!" Flynn didn't believe it . Actually, he did believe it, and that's why he wondered why he was even still friends with Yuri. In any case, it appeared that Yuri had taken it upon himself to hire a prostitute for Flynn, and he was not amused with this turn of events. He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry, Miss…"

"Cinnamon," she said. "Cinnamon Sparks."

"Uh…" That was a fake name if he had ever heard one. "Alright, Miss Sparks, there's been a misunderstanding of some sort. It would appear my… 'friend'," he was using the term very loosely right now, "thought that I wanted, er, companionship. However, this is not the case and I am afraid I will have to ask you to leave."

Cinnamon pouted. "So soon?"

Flynn thought about it. At this time of night, she'd be stopped by the guards for sure. If she couldn't give a good excuse for wandering around the castle, she'd be thrown in jail. Even if Flynn could bail her out in the morning, it still wasn't fair to put her in that position. Besides, then he'd have to explain what his relationship to her was and he could not imagine the gossip and rumours that would spread around the capital if it was heard the commandant had had a prostitute in his room. He could avoid her getting stopped by the guards by escorting her out, but that still left the problem of him being seen with a prostitute. She could slip out unnoticed in the morning when the overnight shift of servants headed home, but until then he was stuck with her.

He sighed and reluctantly said, "No, actually, I suppose you'll have to stay here."

"Oh, good," she said. She grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him to the bed. "I was rather looking forward to this job."

"Whoa! Hold on!" He flailed his arms around and then tripped on the edge of his bed, falling face-first into the mattress. He quickly rolled onto his back and held his arms up in defense.

"Nervous?" She leaned over him, which had the effect of placing her breasts right over his upraised hands. His face turned bright red and he dropped his arms to the side. Cinnamon reached down and cupped the sides of his face with her hands, her hair tickling his cheeks. "It's ok, I understand. Your friend said this was your first time." She leaned down and kissed his cheek. "I've had plenty of frightened first-timers, so don't worry about being the worst I've ever had."

"No, no, no, no, no," Flynn said, placing a hand on her shoulder and gently but firmly pushing her aside. He scrambled to sit up and rubbed his cheek with the back of his hand, annoyed to see bright red lipstick smudged on it. "I said you could stay. I did  _not_  say I was going to sleep with you."

"Oh." Cinnamon deflated a bit, sitting on the edge of the bed next to him. "You're not going to be one of  _those_  clients, are you?"

"I'm… not sure what you mean."

"Oh, you know," she said, waving her hand in derision. "The ones who just want to talk to you about your life choices in an attempt to 'help' you."

"I… I don't know. I wasn't expecting you to be here at all." This was all Yuri's fault. Oh, when he saw Yuri tomorrow, that bastard was going to  _pay_.

"Well, if you don't know how to spend the evening, I can think of a few ideas." She edged closer to him and reached over to trail her fingers up the side of his neck.

"Nope," Flynn said quickly, standing up. He wasn't sure what to do with Cinnamon. He wanted to go to sleep, but he didn't feel comfortable going to bed with her in his house. "Let's go to the main room and… talk."

She looked at him sceptically. "Talk?"

"Yes. Just talk." He remembered what she'd said and quickly added, "I'm not going to try and talk to you about your life choices. I just want to talk. I can't sleep with someone I barely know."

"Sure you can," Cinnamon said. "I do it all the time."

Flynn frowned. "Well,  _I_  can't. Please, follow me."

"If you insist."

He led her to the main room and gestured for her to have a seat on the sofa. He stood awkwardly nearby, not sure what to do with himself. What was the proper etiquette when entertaining a prostitute? Other than sleeping with her, of course. "Can I get you something to drink? Some tea, perhaps?"

Cinnamon rested her arm against the top of the sofa and twisted her body to face him. "No, thank you."

"Alright…" With nothing else to do, Flynn sat down on the sofa next to her, his hands folded in his lap.

"So, what do you want to talk about?" she asked.

"Well… uh… what's your name?"

"I told you, it's Cinnamon Sparks."

Flynn shook his head. "No, I mean, your real name." Unless that actually  _was_  her real name, in which case… how awkward.

Cinnamon frowned. "You don't need to know my real name."

"Please, tell me."

She sighed and rolled her eyes. "Alright, fine. It's Mildred Wilkerson."

"Mildred?" Flynn nodded slowly. "That's a nice name."

"No, it's not," she said. "Nobody in the history of time has ever been attracted to a prostitute named Millie."

"Well, I think it's a lovely name."

She buried her face in her hand. "You're going to call me that now, aren't you?"

Flynn smiled. "It's your proper name, after all. I don't see what's so bad about it. So, Millie, what do you, uh, do for fun?"

She stared at him, and then pulled her legs up and leaned over on her hands and knees. Her chest, already barely contained by her skimpy red dress, squeezed between her arms in a way Flynn was certain was intentional. In a well-practiced sultry tone, she said, "Are you sure I can't tempt you?"

Flynn's eyes shot upward, pointedly not looking at the cleavage she was sticking in his face. "No, thank you."

"What are you so afraid of?"

"I'm not afraid of anything," he said.

"If you're afraid I'll laugh or something, don't worry. You know what they say, it's not the size that counts, it's what you do with it."

Flynn's face, if possible, turned even redder. "That is  _not_  what I am concerned about. Would you please sit down and stop attempting to seduce me?"

Millie groaned in frustration and slumped back onto the couch. "You're a stubborn one. Don't tell me, you're into guys, aren't you?"

Flynn snapped his head to her in annoyance. "That's not it, either. Look, I'm sure you're a very nice woman, but having sex with someone I've just met doesn't feel right to me." He sighed and crossed his arms, cursing Yuri and everything about his existence for the hundredth time that night. "Why are you so eager to seduce me, anyway? You've already been paid, haven't you? Shouldn't you be glad to be getting paid without doing any work?"

Millie sighed and leaned back against the sofa. "I suppose you're right. It's just…" She frowned and looked down at her hand, examining her painted nails. "I just thought that it might be nice, just once, to have sex with a man who was kind, polite, handsome, and not some scummy thug in a back alley."

Flynn looked down and folded his hands. "I'm sorry."

"It's alright. If you had jumped on me the moment you entered your room, you wouldn't be the man I was looking forward to in the first place."

"How do you know what kind of man I am?" he asked, looking up.

"I know all about you, Flynn," Millie said. "You're the most talked about person in the Lower Quarter."

"I see. Well, then you know that I am fully dedicated to my work and that if I were to be…  _intimate_  with someone, it would only be in a committed relationship."

"Figured."

"What about you, Millie? Do you have any sort of significant other?" His knowledge of the world of prostitution was equivalent to a sea slug's understanding of the Sands of Kogorh. He wasn't sure if they were even  _allowed_  to have boyfriends.

"No," she said. "I live with my mother and younger siblings."

"And your mother is alright with your, um, chosen profession?"

Millie shrugged. "It pays the bills. This isn't what I originally wanted to do, but then my mother got sick and someone needed to put food on the table. I don't have any other marketable skills, so… here I am."

"I see." Flynn felt guilty about her lot in life, although obviously he hadn't done anything to her. The fact that this sort of thing could still happen to people, though, was something that needed to change, which he hadn't accomplished yet. He told himself that he'd only been commandant for a year, and that he still had time to fix the way the people of the Lower Quarter were abandoned by society, but it was a heavy weight dragging him down. "What is it that you wanted to do before your mother became ill?"

Millie looked away with a frown. "It's silly."

"No, tell me."

She sighed heavily. "Well… I suppose I always wanted… to own a bakery." She smiled fondly as memories hit her. "Ever since I was a little girl, I loved the smell of cakes and sweets. I was saving up my money in the hope of starting a bakery before my mother got sick and I had to spend it all caring for her."

"I'm sorry," Flynn said, smiling a bit. She reminded him a bit of Yuri, who had had a fondness for sweets ever since they were kids. "If I may ask, how did Yuri, uh, find you?"

"Oh, I already knew Yuri," she said. She saw his face and quickly added, "Before you ask, no, never as a client. But I don't live too far from him and we frequent the same pub, so I've seen him around a few times."

"I see." Flynn's irritation with Yuri abided somewhat. Oh, he was still angry, but at least not furious. He should have known better than to think Yuri would pick up some random woman he'd never met before and set her lose in Flynn's bedroom. "Why don't you pursue baking now?"

"I do bake in my spare time," she said. "But all the ingredients are expensive and my kitchen is rather sparse, so it's difficult."

"Hm…" he looked around his home and said, "You could bake right now, if you wished."

She looked at him in surprise. "Pardon?"

He gestured at the kitchen behind them. "My kitchen rarely gets used." Because he couldn't manage to cook soup without burning it somehow, but he didn't say this. "But it's fully stocked if you wanted to bake something." It would at least pass the time.

"…Are you serious?"

"Why would I lie about this?"

Millie stared at him like he was offering her the keys to the imperial treasury. "I… yes! I would love to!" She sprung to her feet, and then wobbled a bit, nearly twisting her ankle in her stilettos.

"Careful!" Flynn said, jumping up and grabbing her arm to keep her from falling. "Why don't you take those off?"

"Is that ok?"

"Of course." Flynn honestly didn't understand why stilettos and tight, skimpy clothing were supposed to be sexy. He thought women were prettiest in baggy pyjamas, because he liked to know that they were comfortable.

She slipped off her shoes, and though she was still a little bit taller than Flynn, it wasn't as noticeable. She smiled at him, and then hurried over to the kitchen. "Do you have a favourite flavour? I can make cupcakes. What do you want? Chocolate? Vanilla? Red velvet?"

"Uh…" Flynn walked to the counter island and stood across from her as she started to pull down flour and sugar. Flynn had never had much of a sweet tooth; cookies and cakes had always been more of Yuri's forte. Ordinarily when presented with such an option he would choose whatever Yuri liked best and then give it to him, but in this case he was mad at Yuri and not keen on giving him anything. There was only one type of cake that he could be sure wouldn't find its way to Yuri's stomach.

They'd argued about it enough as children. Yuri had always insisted, "Vegetables don't go in cake."

Flynn tried to explain that, "You can't even taste the carrots."

But Yuri had always responded, "Well,  _I_  can and I don't want to eat cake with vegetables in it."

With that in mind, Flynn asked, "Can you do carrot cake?"

Millie thought for a moment, and then nodded. "Sure. Just sit back and relax and I'll have them done in no time!"

Flynn sat down on a stool and folded his arms on the counter, watching her work with slight bemusement. There were a lot of turns in his life that he could have never expected, such as getting promoted to commandant at such a young age, but he now had a new thing to add to the list of bizarre turns of event: a prostitute in his kitchen baking him cupcakes at midnight.

"So, how is your work going?" Millie asked as she measured the flour.

"It's going well, thank you. It's a lot of work, but I find it fulfilling. How is work going for you?" He regretted it the moment he said it. It was a polite impulse to respond that way, but he really didn't want to ask Millie about her 'work'.

She looked up at him with raised eyebrows, seeing the panic on his face clearly. She chuckled and looked back down at the bowl. "It's fine. I'll spare you the details."

"Thank you…" Flynn watched silently as she went through the kitchen, occasionally speaking up to point her in the direction of supplies. She seemed so honestly happy while baking, and it made Flynn sad to think that she couldn't do this for a living.

When it came time to vigorously stir all the ingredients together into the batter, Flynn suddenly realized he should stop staring. The stirring caused her chest, barely contained in her dress, to shake and bounce, making Flynn feel like a pervert for looking at her. He glanced up at the ceiling and then coughed slightly. "Do you, uh, want to put on a sweater or anything?"

"No, I'm fine, but thank you for offering." She kept stirring, not seeming to realize what the problem was.

"It's no trouble. I have plenty of sweatshirts that would fit you…"

"I'm not cold. The oven is preheating and it's fairly warm in here."

Flynn sighed. "Alright."

She finished stirring the batter and then poured it into a cupcake tin. "So how come this kitchen is so rarely used?"

"Ah… I'm not really that great a chef myself. I usually just order food from the castle kitchens."

"Aw, you can't be that bad." She opened the oven door and slid the pan in.

"You'd be surprised. When we were kids, Yuri once actually tackled me and tried to tie me up to keep me out of the kitchen because I kept insisting we take turns cooking."

Millie laughed. "Wow, so maybe you are that bad. But, hey, you're the commandant of the knights, so who needs cooking?"

Flynn nodded. "Yes, that's one way to look at it." He looked to the oven and said, "So, what do we do while we wait for them to bake?"

"Uh…" Millie bit her lip, deep in thought. "We could play a game? Do you have a deck of cards?"

"I do." He hopped off the stood and then rifled around in a drawer. Someone had given him a deck of cards ages ago, but it rarely got any use. "But I'm afraid the only thing I know how to play is Go Fish," he said sheepishly.

Yuri had tried to teach him how to play poker ages ago when they were in the knights, but eventually gave up. He had been incredibly frustrated at the fact that Flynn kept winning despite not knowing any of the rules. He'd been counting on Flynn being terrible because Flynn was about as good at bluffing as Ba'ul was at tightrope-walking, but Flynn hadn't even tried to bluff because he hadn't known what was even going on. After a long night of winning by luck, Flynn had put down a hand that might have been called a flushed straight if Flynn remembered correctly and then asked, "This is good, right?" At that point, Yuri had practically flipped the table over and stormed out, and never played poker with Flynn again. The fact that Flynn had felt bad and kept trying to give him back his winnings had only made matters worse.

"That's alright, I can teach you."

Flynn sat back down at the counter and Millie pulled a stool over to sit next to him. She shuffled the deck and dealt two hands. She flipped over her own to show him and then said, "Show me your cards and I'll tell you whose hand is worth more."

"Alright." Flynn held up his hand, and Millie leaned against him to get a better look. Flynn wondered if rubbing this close to him was really necessary, but then she whistled, clearly impressed. Flynn glanced at his cards and said, "Is this good?"

She laughed. "How the hell did you manage to get three kings? Yes, that's very good."

"Oh, good." He smiled. "How is your hand?"

She shrugged and leaned back. "A pair of threes. That's all."

"So… does this mean I win?"

"Sort of. See, in poker you hide your cards and then bet that you think your cards are better."

"Alright, I remember that," Flynn said. "But I don't understand how that makes a full game. If I had your hand, for example, wouldn't I know that my hand is no good and not bother betting?"

"No, because you're hoping to bluff the others into thinking your hand  _is_  good, so that they give up and let you win."

Flynn frowned. "That seems awfully dishonest."

"Of course it's dishonest; it's poker. Do you have anything to use as chips?"

"Uh… just Gald. We can bet with real money." Flynn got up to get some coins while Millie checked on the cupcakes. She pulled them out of the oven and then took them out of the tin to cool on the counter. When she was done, Flynn had doled out enough coins and was ready to play.

"Alright, I'll go easy on you," Millie said, sitting back down next to him.

Two hours later, Flynn wondered just how fast the game would have gone by if Millie hadn't been going easy on him. They'd been playing almost nonstop, taking a break only so Millie could get up and make the frosting and then frost the cupcakes. Their stacks of Gald had been equal at the start, but Flynn threw his last hand down in despair and then slid his final coin across the counter to her.

Millie cackled in triumph. "Yes!"

"I thought you were going easy on me," Flynn said. Maybe if he told Yuri that his beginner's luck had obviously faded, Yuri would actually be willing to play with him again. It wasn't fair, though. Flynn kept getting really good hands, but then Millie had so confidently kept betting against him that he was sure she must have something spectacular. When he inevitably folded, he found that the best she had was a pair of twos. She then saw through his own attempts at bluffing effortlessly.

"I  _was_  going easy on you. Anyway, here's your money back." She slid the heavy pile of Gald across the counter.

"Oh, no," Flynn said, pushing it back. "You won fair and square."

She shoved it back at him. "It was all your money to start with."

"I don't care. You won, so take your winnings."

They glared at each other, both determined to hand over the money. Millie said, "I've already been paid for tonight. I don't need your pity money."

Flynn's resolve faltered. Pity was exactly why he wanted her to keep the money, but that was clearly the wrong thing to say. "Please. I'd feel like a cheater if I lost at poker and then kept all the winnings. Just… take this money and buy sugar and flour and anything you need so you can bake cupcakes for your siblings. Please?"

Millie's determined eyes turned soft and she looked down at the pile of Gald with pursed lips. After a long moment of deliberation, she said, "If you insist." She pulled the money back toward her to put in her purse later. "What time is it?"

Flynn glanced at the clock in the kitchen. "It's already almost two-thirty," he said. "No wonder I can barely keep my eyes open. I think I'm going to go to bed. You should, too." He stood up and said, "You can sleep in my bed."

"Oh, what's this?" She hopped up and gave him a foxy smile. "Did I finally convince you to let me sleep with you?"

"I'm afraid not." He led her across the room and back to his bedroom. He stood in the doorway and gestured at the bed. "I'll sleep on the couch."

Millie stepped into the room and stared at the huge bed, and then turned her wide eyes to Flynn. "You mean, you want me to sleep in this bed all by myself?"

Flynn nodded. "Do you have a problem?"

She shook her head and then said, "This is the biggest, softest, nicest bed I have ever had to myself!"

Flynn couldn't contain a smile when he saw how happy she was, but it was tinged by sadness that something as simple as sleeping in a nice bed could make her so happy. "I hope you enjoy it. I will be on the couch if you need anything."

"Thank you." She turned around and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I really do mean it. Thank you. You've been so kind to me tonight. I can't remember the last time I had a client treat me like… like a  _human_."

Flynn's heart clenched. "Mildred Wilkerson, don't ever let any of your clients ever make you feel like anything less than a wonderful, smart, and passionate woman. I still have a lot of work to do to reform the empire, but my goal is that in the future, no one will be forced to take on jobs like this just to survive. As long as I'm commandant, I'll see to it that you get that bakery someday."

She smiled, but it wasn't a hopeful smile. It was the smile of someone who had given up on hoping for her dream to come true, but appreciated the sentiment nonetheless. She leaned forward and gently kissed his cheek. "Thank you, Flynn." As she pulled back she added, "You know, you're welcome to join me in the bed if the couch isn't comfortable."

Flynn just smiled and said, "No, thank you. If you want to wear something more comfortable, you can borrow a pair of pyjamas in the top draw. Good night." He left the room, closing the door behind him. He was still mad at Yuri for springing this on him, but he had to admit that the night had gone much better than he'd been anticipating.

* * *

When Flynn woke up the next morning, Millie was gone. He found himself feeling vaguely disappointed by this. On the kitchen counter, he found a pair of pyjamas folded up, a plate of beautifully frosted carrot cupcakes – they even had little carrots drawn in icing on each one – and a note. He picked up the note and read:

_Dear Flynn, thank you for a wonderful evening. I decided to slip out early, but I hope you don't think I was trying to get away from you. If you want to see me again, I can usually be found on the street corner near the Snooty Liger Pub in the evening. Just for you, it's free of charge._

_Thank you. Millie._

Flynn couldn't help smiling as he read the note. He was about to put it down and then put the cupcakes away, but then he paused and slipped the note into his pocket, just in case.

A few hours and a few inches of paperwork later, Flynn met Yuri at his house as arranged. When Yuri opened the door to Flynn's knock, he smirked at him. "Yo. So… did you have a nice night?"

"Yes, actually," Flynn said.

Yuri walked outside and closed the door, and then the pair walked down the steps to the road. "You did?" Yuri sounded a bit surprised and a bit put out that his practical joke hadn't left Flynn flustered and embarrassed.

"Yes. Millie is a very sweet girl."

"So, how does it feel to be a proper man now?"

"I was always a proper man," Flynn said. "And I still am. We didn't have sex."

Yuri stared at him. "What?"

"We talked for a while, and then she made me cupcakes."

Yuri frowned. "Is 'making cupcakes' some new euphemism I'm not familiar with, or…?"

"No, Yuri, she really did make cupcakes. Carrot cake, to be precise."

Yuri wrinkled his nose. "You mean I paid that much Gald for her to bake you cake with vegetables in it?"

"That's right." He didn't actually know how much Yuri had paid, but he hoped it was a lot.

"Those had better be some  _damn_  good cupcakes." He glanced over a Flynn and said, "And what are you so happy about?"

Flynn shrugged. "I don't know. I actually really liked her. I think I'm going to see her again sometime."

He smiled absently, his mind wandering back to his office and the stacks of paperwork waiting for him. This time, though, he was more worrying about whether he'd get enough of it done this evening to slip away down to the Lower Quarter and find Millie. It wasn't a hobby he had ever even considered taking up, but now that he'd gotten a taste for it, he found himself quite keen to make a habit out of baking cupcakes at midnight with a prostitute.

"Yeah, sure," Yuri said. "But it's going to be out of  _your_  pocket next time."


End file.
